Automatic control for water lock feed for steam boilers



March 2, 1937.

W. D. NORE AUTOMATIC ,-CONTROL FOR WATER LOCK FEED FOR STEAM BOILERSFiled Oct. 28', 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. BY

ATTORNEY Fl r32 WLD.NORE

AUTOMATIC CONTROL FOR WATER LOCK FEED FOR STEAM BOILERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Oct. 28,1955

d6 Mmwgf NVENTUR.

A TTORNEY Patented Mar. 2, 1937 UNITED ST ATENT oF vAU'IOll/IATICCONTROL FOR WATER LOCK FEEDFOR STEAM BOILERS 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a water lock boiler feed system.

The principal object of this device is to provide automatic means forcontrolling water supplied to steam boilers.

This invention is an improvement on my water lock boiler feed system,Patent No. 2,001,431, issued under date of May 14, 1935.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device partly in cross section witha water lock tank carried on top of the steam boiler.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail view showing a valve chamber in crosssection. v

. Figure 3 is a front elevation of the device partly in cross sectionwith the water lock tank not carried upon the boiler.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view showing a modification of a valve incross section.

By referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that there is provided a steamboiler I provided with a combustion chamber 2. This steam boiler I isprovided with a plurality of flues 3 which lead to an outlet stack l.There is positioned upon the top of this steam boiler I a water locktank 5. It will also be seen that there is an intake water line 6which-is connected to the top of the water lock tank 5. It will be seenthat the intake water line 6 carries a valve l and a check valve 8.

The purpose of this invention is to take water from the water lock'tank5 at a point 9 and control the movement of this water by automatic meansso that sufiicient Water is introduced into the steam boiler at a pointIII, which is located near the bottom of the steam boiler, to raise thewater in the boiler to a predetermined level. The water being controlledby means of a valve chamber which acts as a stop member when the steampressure is decreased or shutdown, thus the water level in the boilerwill remain the same whether there is steam in the boiler or not, andwill not flood the boiler by gravity flow.

In Figure 1 the steam boiler is filled to a maximum point and themovement of the water from the water lock tank 5 is held in a lockedposition due to a cone valve II closing a steam line I2 connected to thesteam boiler I at a point It. It will be seen that this cone valve II isconnected by means of a connecting rod It to a float I5 positionedinside of a'valvev chamber I6. The valve chamber It is filled to thesame level as the steam boiler I, the water coming from a pipe I9connecting the steam boiler I and the valve chamber It. When the Waterin the steam boiler I drops to a predetermined minimum level the float Mwill drop downwardly and seat itself on a horizontal seat II having anopening I8. This horizontal float seat I! stops the fall of the conevalve l I, thus keeping it from becoming unseated. The cone shaped valveI I will now open the steam line I 2 and steam is allowed to pass into aline 2i! which connects to a piston chamber 2!. It will be seen thatthis piston chamber 2I carries a piston 22 and a connecting rod 23 whichis connected to a tapered valve 24 or stop member at its lower end. Thesteam within the piston chamber 2i will now force the piston 22 upwardlypast an end 25 of a steam line 26. It is obvious that the tapered valve24 will .be unseated and will allow water to flow from the water locktank 5 by gravity down through pipe lines 21, 28, 29, 3t, and 3| intothe steam boiler I, and when the boiler has been filled the taperedvalve 2t will be seated due to the closing of the steam line 26 by therising of the float I5. and the cone valve II. In the event that theboiler isshutdown, this piston 22 and valve 24 will close or seat thuspreventing the boiler from being flooded. In order that there will be ahead of steam in the top end of the valve chamber It at all times, thereis provided a relatively small steam opening 34 formed in a valve seat35 of the cone valve II. A check valve 45 is provided on the pipe line3| near the steam boiler.

The drawings show a by-pass pipe 32 which is controlled by means of avalve 33. This by-pass pipe 32 is to be utilized whenv the steam boileris being originally filled.

By referring to Figure 3 it will be seen that a water lock tank 36 maybe placed off to the side of a steam boiler 31 as well as on top of itas illustrated in Figure 1. The water lock tank 36 is spaced anyconvenient distance from the steam boiler but is elevated so as to allowWater under automatic control to flow by gravity through pipes 38 intothe steam boiler at a point 39.

Figure 3 shows a modification in the construction of the water lock bythe use of a Water valve 4|) connected to a connecting rod II which hasits upper end attached to a steam controlled valve 42. This steamcontrolled valve 42 works upon the same principle as that shown anddescribed in Figure 1, namely, when the water has dropped in the steamboiler 31, the valve 40 is opened by the steam controlled valve 42. Thisvalve 42 will also close when the steam pressure drops as in case of theboiler being shutdown, thus no water may enter the boiler and flood it.

By referring to Figure 4 it will be seen that there is shown a modifiedform of the Water valve 46 and steam controlled valve 42 by the use of aslidable cylinder 43 within a chamber 44. This valve 43 will closeitself when the steam pressure drops, shutting off the water line, sothe boiler will not be flooded.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described comprising a tank positioned upona steam boiler, a valve controlled water inlet pipe for said tank, waterand steam line connections between said steam boiler and said tank,automatically controlled steam valve means responsive to the water levelin the boiler for allowing water within said tank to flow downwardly bygravity and enter said steam boiler, said automatically controlled steamvalve means including a stop member to prevent said boiler from beingflooded when steam pressure drops to a low value.

2. In a device of the class described comprising a tank positioned upona steam boiler, a valve controlled water inlet pipe for said tank, waterand steam line connections between said steam boiler and said tank,steam actuated valve means responsive to the water level in the boilerfor allowing water within said tank to flow downwardly by gravity andenter said steam boiler, said steam actuated valve means including astop member to prevent the boiler from flooding when steam pressuredrops to a low value, said means comprising a float chamber connected tothe boiler, a float operated valve in said chamber adapted to controlthe passage of steam in said steam line, a cylinder in said steam line,a piston operated valve in said cylinder arranged to operate a valve insaid water line, said piston constructed and arranged to close saidvalve in said water line when no steam is passing through said floatoperated valve.

3. In combination with a boiler, a water lock tank positioned above thewater line of a steam boiler, a valve controlled water inlet pipe forsaid tank, water and steam line connections between said steam boilerand said tank, steam actuated valve means responsive to the water levelin the boiler for allowing water within said tank to flow downwardly bygravity and enter said steam boiler, said means comprising a floatchamber connected to the boiler, a float operated valve in said chamberadapted to control the passage of steam in the said steam line, acylinder in said steam line, a piston operated valve in said cylinderarranged to operate a valve in said water line, said piston constructedand arranged to close said valve in said water line when no steam ispassing through said float operated valve.

4. An automatic control for water lock feeds for steam boilerscomprising a tank positioned above the water line of a steam boiler, avalve controlled water-inlet pipe for said tank, water and steamlineconnections between said steam boiler and said tank, a stop memberto prevent the boiler from being flooded, said stop member comprising avalve chamber, a water pipe connecting said valve chamber and saidboiler, a float in said valve chamber, a cone valve connected on saidfloat, a piston chamber, steam lines connecting said boiler and saidvalve chamher and said piston chamber, a piston head within saidchamber, a valve in said Water line connection to the boiler connectedto said piston head, a valve seat for said cone valve having a smallsteam opening in order to keep a head of steam in the top of said valvechamber, steam line connection between said tank and said pistonchamher.

5. In combination, a steam boiler, a water tank located so as to feedsaid boiler by gravity, steam and water lines connecting said boiler andtank, means for controlling the feeding of the water from said tank tosaid boiler comprising a float operated valve arranged to regulate theflow of steam to said tank in said steam line, a piston actuated valvein said steam line connected to a valve in said water line, said pistonconstructed and arranged to close said valve by gravity when no steam isadmitted to said piston operated valve.

6. In combination, a steam boiler, a water tank located so as to feedsaid boiler by gravity, steam and water lines connecting said boiler andtank, means for controlling the feeding of the water from said tank tosaid boiler comprising, a float operated valve in said steam line andmeans operated by the flow of steam through said steam line foractuating a valve in said water line, said means acting to close saidvalve in said water line when said float valve is closed.

WALDO D. NORE.

